Penza, 10 May 2017. PenzaNews. Basing on materials received from the regional department of the Federal Security Service, the investigative authorities of the regional department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case against the administration of the Gorodische area on the fact of abusive acts that have elements of crime under Part 1, Art. 285 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This was reported by the senior assistant of the head of the regional Investigative Committee for media relations Lyudmila Fomina commenting on information about a criminal case against Gennady Berezin.

© PenzaNewsBuy the photo

"Acсording to the investigation, in the period 2013-2014, within the framework of the programme of citizens' resettlement from houses under the threat of collapse, the administration of the Gorodische area concluded municipal contracts with for-profit organizations for purchasing out of public funds home accommodations in apartment buildings under construction in the city of Sursk at an inflated price of a square metre," the interlocutor explained.

She added that then, possessing information on constructional defects and deviations from regulatory technical documentation, representatives of the Sursk administration signed acceptance and transfer certificates for the apartments.

"As a result of the officials' actions, the rights and legitimate interests of citizens who had to be resettled to the Sursk territory from housing facilities under the threat of collapse were infringed because the people had to live in premises that did not meet established requirements. Illegal actions also caused damage to the budget of the Sursk administration, which amounted to over 5 million rubles," Lyudmila Fomina said.

According to her, at present the department conducts an investigation aimed at establishing all circumstances of the committed crime.

As it was reported before, the first information on search and confiscation of documents from the administration of the Gorodische area of the Penza region appeared in the end of April, 2017. At that time, a source in the law enforcement agencies informed that a criminal case on abuse of power was opened against the head of the Gorodische area administration Gennady Berezin.

The information was neither approved nor rejected by the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. Gennady Berezin refused to give any comments.